Places within Toronto

Today’s Toronto has an area of 641 square kilometres or 247 square miles and encompasses many historic communities. Many survive as neighbourhoods, others as street names, and some only in history books and archives. The place names listed below may describe the residence of your ancestor or places he or she visited. This list is intended to guide you to the jurisdictions that may have created records, and to other Internet sources of information about the place. Please contact us if you come across other communities, or sources that might be useful for researchers.

Agincourt: a community near Sheppard Avenue and Midland Avenue in Scarborough named in 1858 when it was granted a post office

Annex: part of York Township from about Avenue Road to Christie Street, from Bloor Street to Dupont Street, annexed to Toronto in the 1880s and 1890s. See: The Annex Residents Association

Armadale: a post office hamlet at Steeles Avenue and Markham Road on the north boundary of Scarborough, originally named Magdalla

Baby Point: a scenic residential area developed in 1912 on a bend of the Humber River in the west part of York Township, named for early French settler James Baby. See: Baby Point Heritage Foundation.

Balmy Beach: a community in the south east part of York Township annexed to Toronto in 1909.

Cliffside: a neighbourhood on the lakeshore east of Kennedy Road in Scarborough, formerly called Mortlake

Coleman’s Corners: a community near Dawes Road and Danforth Avenue in York Township

Coonat’s Corners: an early name for Thistletown

Corktown: a colloquial name for the largely Irish residential area near King Street and Parliament Street in Toronto. Also used for the West Hill area in Scarborough.

Cummer’s Settlement: see Willowdale.

Danforth, The: a name for the retail and residential community on and adjacent to Danforth Avenue in Toronto

Danforth: a post office opened in 1859 in Scarborough

Davenport: a hamlet on Davenport Road in York Township that developed in the 1850s around a station of the Northern Railway, annexed to West Toronto Junction in 1888

Davisville: a community on Yonge Street at Davisville Avenue in York Township, named for first postmaster John Davis who immigrated from Staffordshire in 1840 and operated Davisville Pottery

Dayton: an early name for the Emery post office

Deer Park: a community on Yonge Street at St. Clair Avenue in York Township

Don Mills: or just “Don”, an area in York Township named for the Don River east of the river to Victoria Park Avenue from Eglinton to York Mills Road; later a planned residential development built between 1952 and 1965

Don Mount: a community on the Don River near Queen Street and Broadview Avenue in York Township

Doncaster: a community on the east bank of the Don River about half a mile south of Todmorden in York Township

Dovercourt: a subdivision in the west part of York Township annexed to Toronto in 1910, named for a home of the Denison family

Downsview: a large, mainly rural area in York Township named for John Perkins Bull’s farm, with approximate boundaries of Lawrence Avenue to Wilson Avenue, and Bathurst Street to Jane Street

Dublin: a crossroads village in York Township at Sheppard Avenue and Dufferin Street founded by William Duncan

Earlscourt: a community on St. Clair Avenue west of Dufferin Street in York Township annexed to Toronto in 1910

East Toronto: an incorporated town in York Township, which was annexed to Toronto in 1908.

Fairbank: a community in York Township near the intersection of Eglinton Avenue, Dufferin Street and Vaugan Road, named for Matthew Parson’s farm. See http://fairbank.gloamingheritage.com/

Finch’s Corners: a post office on Yonge Street at Finch Avenue

Fisherville: a hamlet at Dufferin Street and Steeles Avenue on the north edge of York Township, overlapping into Vaughan Township

Flynntown: an area on Leslie Street north of Sheppard Avenue in York Township, named for early settler Martin Flynn

Forest Hill: a mostly upscale residential area severed from York Township in 1923 and annexed to Toronto in 1967

Government Park: the area south of Queen Street between the Town of York and the Don River originally reserved for government use

Green Grove: see Thistletown

Grouse Hill: an early name for the Emery post office

Hanlan’s Point: see Toronto Islands

Heron’s Bridge: an early name for York Mills

High Park: the residential area in the west part of Toronto surrounding the large park donated to the city in 1873 and 1890 by influential civic engineer and architect John George Howard. See: City of Toronto Archives and http://www.highpark.org/

Kaiserville: a community, named for the Kaiser family, on Steeles Avenue at Jane Street on the north edge of York Township and overlapping into Vaughan Township

Kensington (Market): a residential and commercial area south west of College Street and Spadina Avenue in Toronto that became home to several waves of immigrant communities beginning with Jews in first decades of the 20th century. See Kensington Market Historical Society.

Kew Beach: a post office community on the lakeshore in the east part of Toronto.

L’Amoreaux: (or L’Amaroux) a community on the border of York Township and Scarborough at Finch Avenue, named for an early Huguenot settler

Lambton (Mills): a mill village and post office on Dundas Street on the Humber River, the boundary of York Township and Etobicoke

Lansing: a community on Yonge Street at Sheppard Avenue in York Township

Leaside: The Town of Leaside was incorporated in 1913 and merged with the Township of East York in 1967. It is located mostly south of Eglinton Ave East, east of Bayview, and north and east of the Don Valley Parkway. See: http://leaside100.ca/ and Leaside Life News

Leslieville: a community on Queen Street in the south east part of York Township annexed to Toronto in 1884

Liberties of Toronto: the mainly undeveloped area within the boundaries of the City of Toronto when it was incorporated in 1834, but outside the “city limits”, which contained the developed and densely populated parts

Macaulaytown: a colloquial name for the residential area that developed on land that had belonged to Dr. Macaulay near Bay Street north of Queen Street in Toronto

Magdalla: see Armadale

Malcolm’s Corners: an early name for Malvern

Malvern: a crossroads village at Finch Avenue and Markham Road in Scarborough, named when it was granted a post office in 1856

Metropolitan Toronto: an additional tier of government from 1953 to 1997 that concerned itself with issues of regional significance in Toronto, Etobicoke, York, East York, North York and Scarborough. See: City of Toronto Archives

Millford Mills: an early name for York Mills

Milliken: a rural community on Kennedy Road on the boundary between Scarborough and Markham, named for an early settler

Peninsula: prior to a storm in 1858 the Peninsula protected the York harbour. The storm opened the Eastern Gap near the mouth of the Don River and the Peninsula became the Toronto Islands

Regent Park: Canada’s largest and oldest publicly funded community, built more than 50 years ago, it was originally designed as a transitional community. The Regent Park area occupies the original site of Cabbagetown dating back to the 1820s. See the Cabbagetown/Regent Park Museum site at: http://www.crpmuseum.com/index.php

Richview: an agricultural community near Eglinton Avenue and Martin Grove Road in Etobicoke named for the post office opened in 1852

Toronto, City of: surrounded by York Township, the Town of York was renamed Toronto when it was incorporated in 1834. The city grew by annexing major portions of York Township and its incorporated municipalities, until in 1998 it became part of the much larger City of Toronto which amalgamated Etobicoke, York, North York, East York, Scarborough and Toronto. See: http://www.toronto.ca/archives/records_toronto.htm

Toronto Islands: a series of sandbar islands that protect the Toronto harbour. Originally a peninsula, severed from the mainland by a storm in 1858, the Islands have been augmented and stabilized from erosion, and now are mostly parkland with an airport, several yacht clubs, and limited residential development. See: http://torontoisland.org/

Toronto Junction: see West Toronto Junction

Toronto, East: see East Toronto

Toronto Metropolitan: see Metropolitan Toronto

Toronto, North: see North Toronto

Ward, The: a colloquial name for the slum area that developed north west of Queen Street and Bay Street, known earlier as Macaulaytown

Ward’s Island: see Toronto Islands

West Hill: an area on the west side of Highland Creek at Kingston Road in Scarborough, that had been part of the community of Highland Creek until it was granted a post office in 1879

West Toronto Junction: a town incorporated in York Township 1887, annexed to Toronto in 1909. See: http://www.wtjhs.ca/

Weston: an early hamlet first known as “Humber” that became an incorporated town in York Township and Etobicoke. See: http://welcometoweston.ca/

Wexford: a community dating from the 1840s near the junction of Lawrence Avenue and Pharmacy Avenue in Scarborough; known originally as Hough’s Corners

Willowdale: a community on Yonge Street in York Township, between Lansing and Newtonbrook, named in 1855 when it was granted a post office. Originally known as Cummer’s Settlement for early settler Jacob Cummer’s family

Woburn: a post office established as Elderslie in 1852 on Markham Road between Lawrence Avenue and Ellesmere Road in Scarborough; the name was changed to Woburn in 1856 and the community became the centre of township government in the 1850s

Wychwood Park: a private residential area laid out as an artists’ enclave by landscape painter Marmaduke Matthews north west of Davenport Road and Bathurst Street in York Township; annexed to Toronto in 1909. See: http://www.lostrivers.ca/points/Wychwood.htm

York (Township, Borough, City): the township that originally surrounded the Town of York and stretched from the boundaries of Scarborough to Etobicoke and from Lake Ontario to Steeles Avenue. Over the years many communities including North York and East York were severed from it and much of the remaining territory was annexed by the burgeoning City of Toronto. See: City of Toronto Archives

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